Ross Van Loan
07-30-2014, 03:40 AM
The bass line thrummed out of darkness, built in volume ; was strengthened by martial keytar and then by drums. A spotlight stabbed the stage revealing the glittering chain mailed Asada Strangelove tearing off the opening line of Fugue State’s heavy metal transcription of Mars, Bringer of War on her skeletal Gittler guitar. A second guitar took up the slightly discordant wail. Pinned by a second spot, the greatcoated Khimera Chang flayed her ’58 Stratocaster in a berserk performance twisting and twining manically about that of Strangelove’s. Then the pyrotechnics cut loose and the remaining band members, revealed in firelight, united the band and ignited the audience.
The guitarists strutted towards center down-stage to enact a sweatily suggestive close-in guitar duel as Suki2, garbed in retro-space-war polymers, enthusiastically pounded her Ludwig-Musser Oyster Black Pearl drum set and Dazzle Ardent, fantastically Teuton furred, fervently fingered a feverish fusillade of notes off of a labile pink Roland AX-Synth Keytar. Six and a half minutes later, the quartet climaxed in a sultry crescendo that spattered sweat into the front row of an animated audience. Seven and three quarter minutes later, Holst had resolved the members of Fugue State into post orgasmic lethargy. A glowing Strangelove took the Fifties mike, and purred :
“Who wants Cold War when it can be so very hot!” She languidly pushed stray, damp copper locks out of her ice blue eyes before continuing.
“We’re not yet done with war, troops. Our next transcription, Metal Legion, is our variant of Ottorino Respighi’s slow dance Republican love letter, Pines of the Appian Way.” She flourished a close fisted Imperial Star Trek salute.
“Praetor, break camp : Rome awaits!”
Dazzle Ardent, wearing the requisite red crested helm, stepped to the fore, her fingers deftly working out the slow introductory martial cadence of a legion on the move. Next, Suki2, also like helmeted, brought the extra dimensionality and percussive depth needed to image six thousand legionaries marching in lockstep. The red caped guitarists brandished the brassy notes of triumphant cohorts and the glory of the dawn as as the band took the music to the towards the slow burn retro crescendo of days of yore.
A glowing Chang musically crowed, “That’s my Bolero, babe!” Her bandmates supported her statement enthusiastically with shout-outs of their own.
****
After a quick shower, change ‘n charge--beer for everyone but Suki2 who was far happier with a Shirley Temple--the band was ready to absorb the main act, Ookla the Mok. Khimera sang along lustily to Evil I :
“I’m the man with the evil master evil master plan / Got it all laid out on a evil diagram / Gaze into my evil I....I’m the bad guy! I’m the Bad Guy!” She ended up back on the stage to the delight of the crowd, and the eventual epic, if slightly awkward encore of both bands attempting to meld their frankly dissimilar musical styles into an impromtu Geeky musical medley : fortunately, it was awful enough & energetic enough to successfully cross over the transcendent threshold from painfully unwatchable into magnetically campy.
****
In the bar, Long Tom’s, after the show, Asada toasted her bandmates with a frosty, luminous blue stein of Witch Head Blue lambic.
“To being fantastically good & fantastically bad!”
They all drank to that.
Suki2 exclaimed, “Jamming’s the bomb!”
They all drank to that, too.
****
The next morning the worst hangover belonged to Su Su : the Shirley Temple is an evil brew.
The guitarists strutted towards center down-stage to enact a sweatily suggestive close-in guitar duel as Suki2, garbed in retro-space-war polymers, enthusiastically pounded her Ludwig-Musser Oyster Black Pearl drum set and Dazzle Ardent, fantastically Teuton furred, fervently fingered a feverish fusillade of notes off of a labile pink Roland AX-Synth Keytar. Six and a half minutes later, the quartet climaxed in a sultry crescendo that spattered sweat into the front row of an animated audience. Seven and three quarter minutes later, Holst had resolved the members of Fugue State into post orgasmic lethargy. A glowing Strangelove took the Fifties mike, and purred :
“Who wants Cold War when it can be so very hot!” She languidly pushed stray, damp copper locks out of her ice blue eyes before continuing.
“We’re not yet done with war, troops. Our next transcription, Metal Legion, is our variant of Ottorino Respighi’s slow dance Republican love letter, Pines of the Appian Way.” She flourished a close fisted Imperial Star Trek salute.
“Praetor, break camp : Rome awaits!”
Dazzle Ardent, wearing the requisite red crested helm, stepped to the fore, her fingers deftly working out the slow introductory martial cadence of a legion on the move. Next, Suki2, also like helmeted, brought the extra dimensionality and percussive depth needed to image six thousand legionaries marching in lockstep. The red caped guitarists brandished the brassy notes of triumphant cohorts and the glory of the dawn as as the band took the music to the towards the slow burn retro crescendo of days of yore.
A glowing Chang musically crowed, “That’s my Bolero, babe!” Her bandmates supported her statement enthusiastically with shout-outs of their own.
****
After a quick shower, change ‘n charge--beer for everyone but Suki2 who was far happier with a Shirley Temple--the band was ready to absorb the main act, Ookla the Mok. Khimera sang along lustily to Evil I :
“I’m the man with the evil master evil master plan / Got it all laid out on a evil diagram / Gaze into my evil I....I’m the bad guy! I’m the Bad Guy!” She ended up back on the stage to the delight of the crowd, and the eventual epic, if slightly awkward encore of both bands attempting to meld their frankly dissimilar musical styles into an impromtu Geeky musical medley : fortunately, it was awful enough & energetic enough to successfully cross over the transcendent threshold from painfully unwatchable into magnetically campy.
****
In the bar, Long Tom’s, after the show, Asada toasted her bandmates with a frosty, luminous blue stein of Witch Head Blue lambic.
“To being fantastically good & fantastically bad!”
They all drank to that.
Suki2 exclaimed, “Jamming’s the bomb!”
They all drank to that, too.
****
The next morning the worst hangover belonged to Su Su : the Shirley Temple is an evil brew.
![[Image: ShirleyTempleMackenzieKing2b.jpg]](http://wpcontent.answcdn.com/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/ShirleyTempleMackenzieKing2b.jpg)